The Masters in Foreign Service program was recently ranked the best masters program for students interested in international relations for the third year in a row.

The School of Foreign Service beat out several prestigious programs for the number one ranking, including those at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Princeton, which took second, third and fourth place respectively.

The annual rankings were released by researchers with the Teaching, Research, and International Policy project in their January survey of international relations scholars.

The TRIP project is based at The College of William and Mary and interviewed faculty members from every four-year university and college in the United States for the survey. The results included responses from 1,582 faculty members about their views on international issues.

When asked, “What are the five best masters programs in the world for a student who wants to pursue a policy career in international relations?” 69 percent of respondents listed Georgetown in their top 5.

This is the fourth survey the group has conducted and the third time the MSFS program has received the top ranking, according to Director of the Masters of Science in Foreign Service Anthony ClarkArend (SFS ‘80),

“All of us that work with the Masters Programs in International Relations at Georgetown are honored and humbled to receive this number one ranking for the third time in a row,” Arend wrote in an email.

Additionally, 28 percent of survey respondents said that Georgetown’s was among the top five programs for undergraduate students wishing to study international relations, putting it in fifth place, behind Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Columbia.

Carol Lancaster, dean of the SFS, was also pleased with the rankings.

“This is a credit to all faculty of the university who teach students in these programs,” she wrote in an e-mail.